01-03-2011, 10:11 AM | #1 |
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Classic Mash-ups
What hath Pride and Prejudice and Zombies wrought?
Since its publication we have seen: Pride and Prejudice and Zombies: Dawn of the Dreadfuls Little Women and Werewolves Jane Slayre Little Vampire Women Queen Victoria: Demon Hunter Emma and the Werewolves Android Karenina Mansfield Park and Mummies The Undead World of Oz Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter Sense and Sensibility and Sea Monsters Robin Hood and Friar Tuck: Zombie Killers - A Canterbury Tale Emma and the Vampires Alice in Zombieland |
01-03-2011, 10:27 AM | #2 |
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Seth Grahame-Smith's books actually have very good reviews (Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter). I haven't read either yet, but they are on my tbr list. The others.... well, seems like they're just following a trend. The typical market over-saturation when something does well.
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01-03-2011, 10:34 AM | #3 |
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Actually, I've reads those two books. PPZ is the better one. Probably it was helped by having mostly Jane Austen's prose. Abraham Lincoln was OK. Mostly these seem to be of interest as a novelty rather than as a story in their own right.
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01-03-2011, 01:47 PM | #4 |
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They'd be vastly more interesting if anyone ever bothered to expand them beyond the standard Zombies, Vampires, and Werewolves, oh my! horror movie clichés.
And maybe tried to mimic the style of the writing of the times a bit more instead of having these clunky modern-sounding substitutions into the original text. (I read PPZ, SSM, and PPZ: DotD from the library; 1st 2 were decent attempts at approximation, 3rd wasn't even trying and read like a cheap cash-in quickie.) Some eldritch abominations wouldn't come amiss. In fact, there was a rather good Sherlock Holmes/Lovecraft anthology before all this, Shadows Over Baker Street, which spawned Neil Gaiman's excellent A Study in Emerald, available for free reading from his website. Admittedly PDF, but it mimics the look of a Victorian penny dreadful tabloid, complete with "period" ads. That's what all these mash-up writers should aspire to. Also, they should have more imaginativeness in the settings if they're just going to take mostly random popular elements and mix them up. Pride & Prejudice & Paranormal Investigations in the Wild Wild West, anyone? Or maybe Pride & Prejudice & Political Shenanigans in the Urban Courts of Faerie. And finally, I can't believe no one's done a Northanger Abbey mash-up yet. You'd think that would be natural for it, what with the gothic horror mockery and all. Maybe they just can't find some properly alliterative item to "and" it with? Last edited by ATDrake; 01-03-2011 at 01:52 PM. Reason: Keep :D from turning into smiley in title abbreviation. |
01-03-2011, 03:24 PM | #5 | |
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Quote:
Probably 75% of the appeal of PP&Z is the cover, which is fantastic. (The other 25% of the appeal is Zombies.) |
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01-03-2011, 11:42 PM | #6 |
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They aren't part of the current fad, but Loren Estleman's Sherlock Holmes vs. Dracula and Dr Jekyll and Mr Holmes are pretty good.
And there's a short story call The Eldritch Horror of Oz by L. Frank Craftlove. |
01-17-2011, 04:57 AM | #7 |
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Just finished Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Am a Lincoln fan and thought it was very well written and most of all, fun to read. That's what these genre-mash up novels are all about. |
01-17-2011, 12:15 PM | #8 |
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I agree, but I have to roll my eyes a little after so many titles appeared in the last year.
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01-17-2011, 10:00 PM | #9 |
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I've never heard of these... I think I'll check out Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter!
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01-26-2011, 07:12 PM | #10 | |
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Quality varies, but so far I really liked the Harry Houdini team-up by Daniel Stashower, and the Holmes/War of the Worlds/Professor Challenger three-way mashup was amusing enough. On the other hand, Fred Saberhagen's Holmes/Dracula sequel was a bit disappointing, though I understand his original Holmes/Dracula tale is something of a minor classic. |
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01-26-2011, 07:28 PM | #11 |
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Don't neglect Jonathan Maberry's "Patient Zero," a wonderful horror/espionage mash-up... with zombies!
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